After the first night of a Beatles-inspired stage show called Love in Las Vegas, Sir Paul took the stage and kissed Yoko on the cheek.

It was a very public reconciliation for the two who have fought a bitter battle over the Beatles' legacy for more than three decades.

Taking the applause at the Siegfried & Roy Theatre, Sir Paul paid tribute to his two late friends, saying: 'This is for John and George.'

His words clearly impressed 73-year-old Yoko, who smiled beside him. The £55million show, featuring Cirque du Soleil, was the brainchild of George Harrison, whose widow Olivia was at the opening along with Ringo Starr and Lennon's first wife, Cynthia.

Sir Paul, 64, who was still wearing his wedding ring despite splitting from his wife Heather Mills, has had a rocky relationship with Yoko since the Sixties.

She is widely blamed for the breakup of the Beatles and has rowed with him over his attempts to change the credit 'Lennon-McCartney' to 'McCartney-Lennon' on songs such as Yesterday which he wrote.

Last year, she even suggested he was an inferior songwriter to Lennon, saying that the limit of his lyrical talent was to rhyme 'June' with 'spoon'.